In this video, Steph, one of our Philippine supervisors, detail the differences between working in an office environment like what we have and working from home.

Have you worked from home before?

Before I joined Affordable Staff, I was working from home for several years, working for clients I found through referrals and websites like Odesk and OnlineJobs.

Can you describe the normal working conditions of a home-based job?

Comfortable

Working from home comparing it to working from an office is very comfortable in the sense that you don’t have to dress up because you’re pretty much at home the entire day and you’re there alone. So there’s really no one there to impress with your clothes. You can even go to work in your pajamas.

No need for time management

When it comes to time, you really don’t have to be very conscious about it. If you have a start time at 9 AM, you can wake up at 8:30 even 8:45 and just go straight to your laptop and start working.

No home office

Ideally for people who are working from home, they should have a home office but it’s not true for most people who are working from home. For me, I just had a table in our living room where I work from. So it’s really not an office, just an area where I can work.

How do you monitor security and protect clients’ data from home?

No formal data protection and legal agreement

When it comes to data protection and data security, it really just boils down to their trust with me as their offshore employee. Because when you’re working from home especially if you’re doing freelance, there’s no legally-binding documents that protect clients from breach. So there’s really nothing much for data security.

How do you deal with power outages at home?

Power interruptions are very frequent especially during summertime here in the Philippines. When that happens, you have two options.

Blackout power options

You can either go to a cafe and work from there. But unfortunately, most cafes here don’t have an internet connection that is strong enough for online work. So it’s always very slow and if you have tasks like downloading or uploading, it’s not really possible to work from there. The other option is you go to a co-working space which has good internet but it’s not practical because sometimes it’s costly.

How do you deal with internet speed issues from home?

When you’re working from home, your connection is a residential connection.

Slow internet speed

I only had 3 mbps of download speed and then my upload is less than 1 mbps. It’s a bit slow especially if you have a lot of tasks which involves downloading, uploading, and if you’re working with lots of images.

Poor technical support

Of course, the support also is not that great. Unlike if you’re working from an office where you have a business line which has a dedicated support team that can help you out whenever there are interruptions.

How is working from home different from working in an office?

I would definitely say that working from an office is better than working from home.

Backup generator

For starters, the technical support that you need is there. For example, if there’s a power interruption, we have a generator on stand by that work restore the power back before my UPS dies.

High speed internet

If we encounter internet issues, we always have a backup line, actually two. So all we need to do is switch the connection and the internet will also be restored.

Constant technical support

When you’re working from home, you’re using your own personal computer and if you encounter technical troubles with it, it’s very hard to replace if you don’t have a spare. But at the office, if your PC dies, there’s always a spare PC to use for working.

Less distractions from work

There are less distractions when you’re working from an office. The environment is very quiet so it’s very conducive to calls. There’s no television lying around. Your pets are not there to distract you. When you’re working from an office, it’s just you, your work and you can have 100% focus.

Security and monitoring

The security of the office is also very tight. We have lockers for the employees. We have CCTVS which are on 24/7. And then we have our bio-metric time tracking.

How does working in an office benefit the clients?

Non-disclosure agreement

Working from the office is more beneficial for the client because here you have an NDA, your Non-Disclosure Agreement, which is very strong. It’s basically iron-clad. It protects client data even though let’s say in the future, I’m no longer employed in the office, I’m still bound by my NDA and I can’t discuss any data and processes of my client.

Secure and static IP

Because we have a business line, our IP is static, making us more compliant to offshore requirements.

Home-based environment vs. Professional office environment?

In a nutshell, if you compare working from home with working from an office, working from an office is definitely better because it’s beneficial not only for the clients but also for me as an employee.